This Spring we’ve gotten to look at some of our young prospects and they have impressed fans, the media and the team.  The reports that the farm system was dead have been greatly exaggerated it seems.  Fernando Martinez, Ike Davis, Jon Niese and Jenrry Mejia are having great springs, so of course there has been plenty of talk about them joining the big team once camp breaks. 

Coming into Spring Training, the fifth sport in the rotation was Jon Niese’s spot to lose so it’s not a big a surprise if he makes the 25 man rotation.  Jerry Manuel has expressed his desire for Ike Davis and Jenrry Mejia to make the team, but Omar Minaya has stated on several occasions that both youngsters as well as F-Mart will start the season in the minors.

This is welcomed news that clearly shows Omar has finally learned from the mistakes of the past in rushing young talent to the majors.  Mike Pelfrey was rushed and as we have seen it ended up being wrong for the team and Big Pelf as well. Lastings Milledge was nowhere near ready when he was called up and his career has suffered ever since.  Last year F-Mart was rushed and in turn delivered terrible results until finally getting injured and missing the rest of the season.

Allowing the prospects to grow in the minors until they’re ready, might be Omar’s saving grace as he tries to make a last stand for keeping his job.  We have heard for the last few months that Omar and Jerry’s job’s are both on the line this season and they need the team to avoid a slow start.  Personally, I believel that Omar is safe for now and that he won’t be released until after the season if things do go bad, but that’s a different post all together.  I believe that due to the emergence of these solid prospects waiting in the wings, all of whom were acquired by Minaya, and his new 3 year extension which is just now kicking in, Omar will be able to save his job moving forward.  It’s a shrewd and smart move on Omar’s part to avoid rushing theses kids, but the decision could pay off handsomely when they are inevitably called upon and they make their impacts felt in the win column.

Ultimately, it’s the right move and indicates that Omar is willing to do what is best for the prospects and the team in the long run. I look forward to seeing Mejia, Davis and F-Mart all get the proper seasoning before rejoining the team and giving our franchise and it’s fans many years excitement and solid play.

The Mets brand got a jolt of life in 2005 when Omar Minaya was hired as the GM and quickly signed Pedro and Beltran.  2006 saw the Mets just miss getting to the World Series.  2006 also brought a lot of new fans to the Mets as they were relevant again; they had the new, young superstars of David Wright and Jose Reyes leading the team.  2006 didn’t end the way the fans wanted it to, but there was hope for 2007 and beyond.  For a new Mets fan base, 2007-2009 might seem like the darkest days for the franchise and I understand their point of view since they haven’t followed the team as long as other Mets fans have.  So for those new fans I quote Harvey Dent from the hit film The Dark Knight: “the night is darkest just before the dawn.  And I promise you, the dawn is coming.”

I believe that quote really applies to the Mets.  Yes 2007 and 2008 ended in horrible collapses on the last day of the season and we really don’t have to speak about 2009 anymore.  2010 is not starting the way we envisioned it would with Beltran missing at least a month due to knee surgery and Jose Reyes missing opening day and perhaps longer with a thyroid condition, but the dawn is coming.  In fact the dawn is in Florida with the Mets.

This Spring we have seen the future for the Mets, and it looks bright. Ike Davis is knocking the cover off the ball as is Fernando Martinez.  So far this Spring Jenrry Mejia has been practically untouchable and is being considered as a setup guy for K-Rod.  Josh Thole is also coming along nicely and as we saw last year, he’s close to being ready for the majors.  Jon Niese has also impressed me and could very possibly make the opening day rotation.  It has been a long time since the Mets had this much promising youth in Spring Training that actually have great futures ahead of them in the big leagues.  These kids will most likely be with the Mets by next year if not sooner in some cases.

I understand all the bad communication and injuries that have plagued the Mets and it’s easy to be pessimistic and see nothing but dark days ahead, but the dawn is coming and will be here soon.

On the last day of the winter meetings the Mets offered Jason Bay a deal that is believed to be around $65 million dollars for 4 years.

One of the reasons the Mets didn’t go after a left fielder last season, and opted to go with Daniel Murphy instead, was the feeling in the organization that F-Mart would be ready to takeover in 2010 and play left field everyday. Unfortunately for the Mets, they got to see a preview of F-Mart in 2009 due to an injury to Carlos Beltran, and the results were anything but phenomenal.

Omar’s boy F-Mart looked more like a bust than he did a future star during his short trial last season.  He played in 29 games and tallied 91 at bats in which he batted an embarrassing .176, with a .242 OBP and .275 slugging percentage. F-Mart didn’t feel the need to hustle out of the batters box on more than one occasion.  His work in the field was no better, more often than not he always got a late jump on balls hit into the outfield, and he even fell flat on his face in one game diving for a ball that was obviously out of reach.  The results clearly showed that Omar dreadfully miscalculated that F-Mart would be major league ready this upcoming season, and too many  considered F-Mart to be a flat out bust.  

Let’s not forget that Martinez is as injury prone as they come. Every season in the minors, Martinez has spent significant time on the disabled list, and he has already had several surgeries including season ending surgery last season. He has missed a half season worth of games or more in his last four seasons.

F-Mart has had some moderate success in the minors, but like so have many other players before him, upon getting to the majors they failed to display any of their success at the lower levels.

Even if Omar fails to sign Jason Bay, which could keep Martinez at bay for at least another four years, it is quite apparent that he is a long way away from being major league ready if he ever makes it back to the majors at all. His short stint last season, has seen his stock fall dramatically and he has been passed up by other Mets prospects who have bounced Martinez from “number one prospect” status to somewhere between 4th and 7th.

Fernando Martinez is on a career path that is remarkably similar to that of another notable Mets phenom turned bust, Alex Escobar.

Unless F-Mart can put together a solid season at Class-AAA Buffalo in 2010, he may no longer figure into the Mets plans for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, for a change, it will be an injury free year thus improving his trade value for 2011… a year that I’m hoping will feature a new Mets GM that will trade F-Mart for a more talented and serviceable player.

With Beltran and Francoeur seemingly entrenched in the outfield, and Jason Bay looming for the next 4-5 years, the Mets no longer seem to be keeping a spot warm for their one-time golden boy.

Happy holidays everyone, hope you have a fun and safe holiday.

Out of the Opening Day lineup, only Wright and Murphy have never been injured. Castillo is listed because we don’t have enough information on his injury, and the Mets would probably wait a while before putting him on the DL, if they do.

The rotation is another story, but a similar one as well:

Johan Santana

Mike Pelfrey:  Missed a start in April due to forearm trouble.

Oliver Perez: DL: Patellar Tendinitis (May 8-July 8)

John Maine: DL: Shoulder Weakness (June 12)

Remember, Livan wasn’t on the Opening Day Roster at first, he was called up in time for the 5^th team game. Also, here are other starters that have done time on the DL

Tim Redding: DL: Shoulder Weakness (April 5-May 19)

Fernando Nieve: DL: Thigh (July 20)

Jonathan Niese: As of this writing, his injury was declared sprained hamstring. No timetables discussed.

Bullpen:

JJ Putz: DL: Bone Spur (June 5)

K-Rod: Back Spasms gave us a scare

Billy Wagner started the year on the DL.

But wait, it get’s worse; to the bench:

Alex Cora: DL: Hand (May 18-June 5)

Ramon Martinez: DL: Finger (June 3)

Angel Pagan: DL Elbow (April 5-May 16) ;Groin (June 1-July 11)

Gary Sheffield: Hamstring (July 18-August 1)

Fernando Martinez: DL: Right Knee Inflammation (July 10)

This just isn’t fair.

Looking back, here are some original estimated returns from the time the players were placed on the DL:

Jose Reyes: Early June

Carlos Beltran: All-Star Break

John Maine: Early July

It’s now August.

I wonder if we built Citi Field on cursed land.

Till Next Time

The Mets have 53 home runs, worst in the majors.  The Phillies have 126 and the Yankees 136.  Gary Sheffield leads the team with 10 homers, and David Wright still only has 5.  FIVE. 

Speaking of Wright, while he’s batting a respectable .322, his 5 homers and 44 RBI puts him in the company of guys like Jacoby Ellsbury (5, 29), Freddy Sanchez (6, 34) or Pat Burrell (5, 32).  Those are decent players, but Wright is supposed to be more in the company of guys like Ryan Braun (16, 58) or Albert Pujols (34, 90).  In fact, Wright has similar power numbers to teammate Daniel Murphy (5, 29).  What the hell is that?

The Mets have 814 hits and 362 RBI.  The Phillies have 804 hits and 457 RBI.  Think about that….less hits, but almost 100 more runs batted in? 

The Mets have one complete game, and it’s not by Johan…it’s by Livan.  The Giants and Royals each have 8 complete games to lead the majors.  The GIANTS and ROYALS.

Mets’ pitchers have given up 361 walks, trailing only Washington (365) for worst in the majors.  And of course, their 10 balks leads the majors by far, thanks mostly to Pelfrey’s “yips.” 

The Mets could have had Raul Ibanez, who has 24 homers, 65 RBI and is batting .316 for you-know-who.  

The Phillies’ notable rookie this year is pitcher JA Happ, who is 7-0 with a 2.68 ERA and 65 strikeouts.  The Mets’ notable rookie is F-Mart, who is batting .176 with one homer and 8 RBI. 

Amazingly, the Mets’ hitters have only struck out 501 times, which is best in the majors.  But I guess power hitters strike out more, and the Mets have almost no power, so in that context it makes sense. 

The Phillies’ top home run hitters are Ibanez (24), Ryan Howard (23), Chase Utley (21) and Jayson Werth (20).  The Mets’ top home run hitters are Sheffield (10), Carlos Beltran (8), and Wright (5).  Oh, and Jeff Francoeur also has 5, but he hit most of those with the Braves. 

I probably just made you all sick, and I’m right there with you.  I can’t wait for this season to be over so we can move on!

Infielder Argenis Reyes was called up to take Martinez’s spot on the roster. Martinez will likely retun to the minors after his rehab stint.

By my count I think this is the fourth or fifth knee injury.

For the last 4 years we have been hearing about Fernando “F-Mart” Martinez.  The 16 year old was praised as the future of the New York Mets.  F-Mart was the 5 tool player that the Mets were going to make into their next superstar.  There were growing pains of course, the last couple of seasons F-Mart was injured.  Some were wondering if F-Mart would live up to his expectations.

The 2009 Mets as we all know are walking M*A*S*H unit.  The Mets on May 26, 2009, decided to call up Fernando Martinez from Triple A Buffalo when they put Ryan Church and Jose Reyes on the disabled list.  This was not considered a permanent promotion.  The Mets needed someone in the outfield and they wanted to see how F-Mart could perform at the major league level.

It was a bumpy ride for F-Mart’s first major league assignment.  In his first game he went 0-3, 2K’s, was hit by a pitch but he did drive in an RBI.  There was of course that pop up fly ball that was dropped and Fernando Martinez didn’t run it out and as a result he was thrown out at first on a play in which he should have been safe and the Mets would have had a runner on base.

F-Mart showed some potential but it was obvious that he needed some more seasoning in the minor leagues.  He hit only .207 and he could not recognize breaking balls.  The Mets last week made the right decision and sent him down to Buffalo.  It was the right move as he would play everyday and now the Mets could give the Bisons’ manger and coaches a detailed account on what they wanted them to work on with F-Mart.

Fast forward to Monday, June 23, 2009, Carlos Beltran joins the other 8 players who are on the Mets disabled list with a bone bruise.  The Mets have no choice but to recall F-Mart.  This time it’s not a test for F-Mart, it’s not an assignment just to get a look at the progress F-Mart has made and to evaluate the potential as a major leaguer he has.  Carlos Beltran is out for at least 2 weeks, sounds like it could be longer and F-Mart is going to need to produce.

F-Mart is young, he has potential and it looks like he needs to start utilizing some of that potential for this Mets team that is having a difficult time staying healthy.  He is going to have to grow up faster than most would like.  Situations like this show the make-up of a ball player.  He knows the expectations the fans, the organization, and the media have for him.  F-Mart can either sit in a corner and just try to perform or he could show us that the Mets were right in not trading him and billing him as a superstar of the future by taking advantage of the injuries and performing the way we know he can.

These guys need to be playing everyday at this stage in their career.  Murphy I believe has declined since we saw him last season.  Murphy should be demoted to Triple A and put at first base for the remainder of the season.  He can improve his defense at 1st and be ready for the 2010 season when he will be our everyday 1st baseman.  One of the reasons Murphy made the team this year out of Spring Training was his ability to hit against left handed pitching.  His numbers have decreased against lefties as Jerry has used him less frequently against them.

Fernando Martinez has been good but it’s obvious that at this stage in his career is not 100% ready for the big leagues just yet.  This is not a knock on him.  I have all the confidence that next year, barring an injury on his part we will see him in the outfield everyday for the Mets .  F-Mart still has to work on his hitting.  He has a very hard time hitting the breaking ball.  Also he still needs to mature a little as evidenced when he didn’t run out that pop out to the catcher.  Last week this went unnoticed but he tried to bunt, it looked to be going foul and the ball did thanks to the catcher but F-Mart did not run out of the box.  I think another few months in the minors where he will be playing everyday will help him improve on his skills and mature into the player theMets hope he will become.

I like both players, I think they are going to be important to this franchise in the years to come but if they are not going to get playing time everyday we need to send them down where they can improve and develop their skills for the majors.

The Jerry Manuel we saw last year is not the same we have seen this season.  One of the things I looked forward to was his press conference following the game.  They were full of life, his comments were interesting.  This year not so much.  He reminds a lot of Willie Randolph now during his press conferences.  He looks disinterested, he repeats himself from the previous day.  SNY could air the press conference from a week ago and it would sound the same as tonight’s.

This season Manuel is really messing with his players’ heads and put them in the doghouse, even though according to Jerry he doesn’t have one.  Ryan Church is an ideal player.  He plays hard in the field, he was hitting at the plate and he runs out balls that are hit in play.  Jerry Manuel for some unknown reason did not like those traits in Ryan Church.  It started in Spring Training when Manuel let Church know that he was going to possibly platoon with Fernando Tatis. Earlier this season so while Church was hitting everything thrown at him Jerry Manuel benches him for a couple of games.  Then Church comes back, continues hitting and for some reason Manuel again will sit him down but when it’s time to put Church back in the lineup he bats him 8th.  Former Met Ramon Castro was another guy who Manuel liked to mess with.  Who can forget Jerry having Omir Santos come out of the bullpen while Castro was walking to the plate and pinch hit for him in the bottom of the 9th inning, guys on base and the Mets trailing with 2 outs?

Daniel Murphy is also a guy who Manuel has put in his doghouse.  Murphy playing the outfield was a mistake.  An utter failure.  Jerry Manuel in Spring Training decided to make Murphy his everyday left fielder even though that was not his natural position.  All through Spring Training Manuel praised Murphy’s ability to hit, citing how patient he was the plate and his ability to hit against left handed pitchers.  Murphy’s play in the outfield caused the Mets several games but Jerry refused to take him out of the lineup.  Carlos Delgado gets hurt, Murphy gets worse in the outfield and Jerry finally sees the light and admits the experiment with Murphy was a failure.  Daniel Murphy was going to be moved to 1st base and you know what?  He’s been pretty impressive at 1st base.  He’s made some good plays.  Unfortunately his bat isn’t what we all thought it would be.  Murphy is no longer hurting us with his defense but Jerry decides to take him out of games now when everyone else is banged up.  Murphy last week had a big homerun, the next day Jerry takes him out.  It seems to me that Jerry is a little angry at Murphy after Murphy failed in the outfield.  Jerry stuck his neck out for Murphy and Murphy couldn’t play the outfield so Jerry decided to punish him.

Last week Fernando Martinez made is much awaited major league debut.  This was a game when he hit a weak pop up to the catcher and didn’t run the ball out.  The catcher dropped the ball but still had time to recover and throw F-Mart out at first.  Jerry decided to leave Martinez in the game.  In his post game he said it was a big mistake and that he would talk to F-Mart later.  That was the end of it he said.  Next game F-Mart is for some reason sitting on the bench but it’s not because of the previous game.  I think that Jerry should have taken F-Mart out of that game as a punishment and that would have been the end of it.  F-Mart needs to play everyday while he’s up from the minors.  To start messing with a 20 year old’s head is wrong Jerry, it’s wrong!

Last season when Jerry took over Jose Reyes challenged him on his first night as manager when Jerry wanted to take Jose out after he came up lame running to 1st base.  Jerry got in his face, told Reyes to get off the field and go sit down on the bench.  The players seemed to respond to Jerry after this.  They also played hard for him all last season.  This season that’s not the case.  I mentioned the F-Mart incident already but last night once again it happened.  For some reason these guys refuse to run out ground balls.  They refuse to slide when they obviously should.  They are not running out of the box hard enough and instead of getting a triple they’re on second in a game they trail.

Now it’s too early to call for Jerry’s job.  The Mets are still good in the standings.  I just feel that Jerry needs to change the way he’s managing this team.  He’s playing with a banged up team and they have done a good job.  Jerry needs to be the same Jerry we saw last year, not this Jerry.  He needs to get in these guys faces and tell them the gangsta is back and will not take this kind of lazy play.  He needs to reward guys who play well and not pick his favorites.  Only then will the Mets be a winning team.  Right now if the Mets did fire Jerry I wouldn’t mind it all the much even though I would be worried who would take his place.  I doubt that the Mets will fire another manager mid season after the way everything went down with Willie Randolph.  If Jerry continues to manage this way I wouldn’t mind it if he doesn’t come back next year.  Jerry please bring the gangsta back!

“Worst loss of the season” Keith Hernandez says it all.

Mets gave up a 5-0 lead to the Bucs after the bullpen failed to hold on. Late runs were absent as well as all the Mets runs came in the first 3 innings. Mets lost game one to the Pirates 8-5.

Pitching

Livan Hernandez started the game off well, not allowing a run till the 4th inning, despite allowing the lead off hitters to get on for the first three innings. Livan left the game in the fifth inning. He went 5.2 innings, allowed 3 runs on 7 hits, walked 2 and struck out 5 on 103 pitches.

Bobby Parnell came into the game during the fifth to end the inning despite having the bases loaded.

Pedro Feliciano came into the game and struck out two to end the sixth inning. Pedro came back out in the seventh and got one out as JJ Putz came in to relieve him and gave up a base hit that got Feliciano’s runner in. Putz also gave up two runs to give up the lead.

Brian Stokes came in with the bases loaded and only one out. Two runs came across to score on an error by the shortstop Valdez, and a sac fly. Stokes was finally able to finish the inning after five men scored.

Batting

Mets got the offense going early, got five runs by the third inning. Nothing from the offense happened after that. Valdez had a 3 RBI game with a triple and double. Reed and F-Martinez combine for 3 runs in the game. Schneider and Sheffield each had an RBI in the game.

First career stolen bases for Fernando Martinez.
First extra base hits for Wilson Valdez.

Additional Info

This day in Mets history: New York Mets selected Nelson Figueroa in 30th round of free agent draft on June 1, 1995.

Angel Pagan will likely go to the DL when Alex Cora comes back on Tuesday.
Carlos Beltran still out with a stomach flu.
Gary Sheffield looked to be in pain during the game with a sore hamstring.

Aflac trivia question: First 5 players inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1936?
Aflac trivia question: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson and Walter Johnson.

Game Ball

Wilson Valdez for his 3 RBIs.

Up Next

Johan Santana (7-2, 1.77) will pitch game two of this series against Pirate ace Zack Duke (5-4, 2.75).

This game wasn’t one of the best the Mets have had this season. Starting pitching was clearly the weak point, and the offense didn’t help much either. Mets winning streak snapped at 4 games as Mets lose 7-3 to the Marlins.

Pitching

Tim Redding had a rough outing as he gave up four runs by the third inning, giving up several hits, and an error by Tatis. Redding continued to struggle as he he gave up a three-run homerun in the fifth inning. Redding went 4 innings, giving up 7 runs on 8 hits, 2BB, 2K and gave up a homerun. His ERA jumps to 9.20.

Green came into the game and got three outs after Redding failed to do so in the fifth. Takahashi came into the game and went 3 innings and aloud no runs. Stokes came into ninth and got his three outs to finish it out.

Batting

Mets were able to get a run early as Pagan got a walk and Tatis was able to get him in. Bats were sleeping until the fifth where they were able to get one run back with F-Martinez getting an RBI double. Bats didn’t put up much of a fight again till the ninth, Pagan got an RBI double to score Schneider.

Fernando Martinez had several career firsts. First hit, first extra base hit, and first multiple hit game.

Tatis, Valdez and Schneider each had one hit.

Additional Info

This day in Mets history: David Cone announced his retirement in 2003. 
Brian Schneider had his first start since April 15th.
Carlos Beltran left the game in the sixth inning because of a stomach virus.

Aflac trivia question: Which player led the league in ERA most times in his career?
Aflac trivia answer: Lefty Grove, 9 times.

Game Ball

Ken Takahashi and Angel Pagan.

Up Next

John Maine (4-3, 4.18) will go up against Marlins Chris Volstad (4-3, 3.69) for the rubber match of the series.

Carlos Delgado – The Mets have scheduled a 4 p.m. conference call for reporters with general manager Omar Minaya to discuss the health of first baseman Carlos Delgado. He’ll most likely head to the disabled list, which could mean the Mets might callup…

Fernando Martinez – Martinez was first mentioned as a possible call up by the Buffalo News who wrote,

Mets manager Jerry Manuel dropped Ryan Church to eighth in his batting order tonight against the Pirates. He seems to be losing patience with him. How much longer before the Mets pull the Fernando Martinez trigger? 

Jon Heyman also suggested the possibility of an F-Mart callup and a move to first base for Dan Murphy.

J.J. Putz – Putz has fanned the flames of concern on the Mets not so much for his recent ineffectiveness, but be the unexplained 5 MPH loss in velocity which has suddenly made him very hittable. While a guest on WFAN yesterday, Putz said the loss of velocity is due to a loss of adrenaline which is due to a loss of closing games in the ninth inning. Whew… did you get all that?